Reviews tagging 'Abortion'

Crossroads by Jonathan Franzen

22 reviews

appletreedownes's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

So long! Great characters and very vivid scene setting, but it took me forever to read.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abortion

koniisland's review against another edition

challenging emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

cristinareading's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Rape, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Death of parent, and War

hanandrews's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Abortion

milkfran's review against another edition

adventurous challenging medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A snapshot in time of the Hildebrandt family over one Christmas in Illinois in the 1970’s but interwoven with each character’s point of view and their thoughts, feelings, and recollections of the past. 
It’s hard to love any of the characters but it’s hard to hate them either: Franzen’s gift is to make them human as they wrestle with small dilemas that seem like big ones (“should I have an affair with a woman from church?”) and big dilemas that seem like small ones (“am I a coward for accepting a deferment for the draft?”). 

Really excited for the next ones if it’s going to be a trilogy!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Rape, Abortion, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

a_serpent_with_corners's review against another edition

fast-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

Liked how well this showed that strongly held principles/changes of heart can be simultanously 'real' and driven by self-interest. Thinking especially of

Becky's conversion experience and Clem's decision to enlist

.

The mixture of love, duty, and resentment that characterises the family relationships was also well-drawn.

The parts about Marion were the biggest mixed bag for me. She gets one of the most blistering exchanges of dialogue in the novel, but the parts dealing with her earlier life from her own perspective didn't quite ring true for me - they seemed a bit sensational. Not so much in the specifics of what happened but more in

the way mental illness was expressed in the narration

.

It goes very quickly - I finished it in four days, despite them being quite busy. Everything I read about this compared it to The Corrections and most agreed that that was even better, so I will need to seek it out sometime.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Sexual content, and Abortion

lily_kruse's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Sexual content, and Grief

Minor: Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Vomit, Abortion, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Pregnancy

lubepizza's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

God I hate this family so much but boy howdy does this sucker know how to write.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Sexual content, Alcohol, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Racism, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Abortion

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and War

hannakutlu's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Sexual violence, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

drrock's review against another edition

emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Mental illness, and Abortion